Golf club



June 13, 1933. STUMPF 1,913,821

GOLF CLUB Filed June 30, 1932 .'ill///// CPI " fore he finds th Patented June 13, 1933 ARTHUR J. 85311311191, OI NEWARK, NEW JERSEY GOLF CLUB Application filed June 30, 1932. Serial No. 620,141.

The invention relates to golf clubs and more particularly to improvements 1n wooden golf clubs such as a driver, spoon or brassie.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of means on the club head to facilitate driving the ball in a straight line and thereby helping to eliminate the trouble known as slicing or hooking which is prevalent among golfers.

' A further object is to provide a simple and eflicient means for weighting the club. The

common means of weighting wooden clubs at the present time comprises drilling or forming openings in the rear part of the head and running lead or some other sub stantially heavy metal into these openings. The openings are shaped so that the weighting material will be interlocked or keyed therein. Obviously once the clubs are completed itis practically impossible to change their weight. This necessitates the manufacturer and dealer carrying a great number of clubs in stock in order to satisfy the needs of customers desiring various weights of clubs. When a person firststarts playing golf he does not know the weight ofclub he may use most efiiciently. The result is he may buy several sets of wooden clubs bee. ones most suited to his needs. A player during the game may find his stroke lagging slightly and if the club could be made a trifle lighter he would have more snap and accuracy in his game.

-In accordance with the present invention means are provided whereby weights may be removed from or added to the club-head thereby making the club lighter or heavier. Theweights may be removed or added with a mlnimum amount of effort andin a very short time and are located in the proper position in the club head to obtain the correct balance and insure the weight being disposed 1n,the most advantageous position in relatlon to the driving or striking face of the golf club head. H

'The foregoing improvements are brought about without interfering with the appearance of the club and its efliciencyis greatly increased.

In addition to the above stated. objects other advantages will appear as this specification proceeds. Referring to the drawing forming a part thereof and in which a preferred form of invention is illustrated: 55

Fig. 1 is an elevational view looking tovgagd the driving or striking face of the c u Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view;

Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views taken re- 0 spectigl ely on the lines 3-3 and 44 of Fig. 2; an

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the sole plate showing a plurality of the removable weights in position thereon.

Referring again to said drawing the reference numeral 6 designates the wooden body portion of a olf club head. The golf club head is provi ed with the usual neck 7 which is fastened in a customary manner to the 70 shaft or handle. The driving or striking face of the golf club head is indicated at 8.

The golf club head is provided with a metal sole-plate 9 which'nicely conforms in all respects with the contour of the wooden 75 'body portion of the club head. The soleplate is set into thewooden body portion as particularly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 and is firmlysecured in'position by a plurality of countersunk screws '10. While the construction illustrated and described is preferred it is obvious that the sole-plate might cover the entire bottom area of the golf club head if so desired.

The sole-plate is provided with a plurality of tongues or raised portions 11 which are termed runners. As illustrated they are three in number and the middle one is slightly higher than the one on either side of it. The height of the runnersf tapers toward the striking face 8 of the club-head. Preferably'at the striking face they are flush with the lower surface of the sole-plate or they may besaid to have zero elevation at that point. They gradually increase in height until the maximum height is reached all; points adjacent the rear part of the solep ate.

It is a well known fact that the ordinary golfer has a tendency to pull or push his stroke at the moment of impact between the striking face of the golf club and the golf. ball. This inevitably results in a slice or hook which are the most troublesome factors to contend with in the game ofv golf. The runners 11 on the golf club head will help considerably to unconsciously overcome this fault. The club being swung with tremendous force and moved with great rapidity just prior to impact with the golf ball will be guided in an absolutely straight line by contact of the runners'with the grass or other surface from which the ball is being played. The center runner is made somewhat higher than its adjacent ones so as to provide for players who have a tendency to either heel or toe their club prior to impact. In this manner it is always assured that at least two of the runners will contact with the surface in front of the ball to be driven.

An aperture 15 is drilled or otherwise formed in the rear part of the wooden body portion of the golf club head. The sole-plate 9 carries a stud 16 which may be formed integral therewith or suitably secured thereto. This stud is so positioned as to extend perpendicularly through the aperture 15 and in central relation thereto. The stud 16 is threaded and a plurality of circular discs 17 acting as weights are screwed onto the stud -and snugly fitting the aperture 15. It will be apparent that in accordance with the'nu1nher of discs employed the weight of the club will vary in proportion.

The discs will naturally act as lock nuts in felation to each other and thus there will be no possibility of their loosening. To further insure against this thin washers 18 of some anti-frictional material may be interposed between the discs. The discs or weights 17 are provided with a pair of holes or openings 19 to facilitate their removal or insertion by a spanner wrench.

It will be obvious from the foregoing description and an inspection of the drawing that the weights 17 may be removed or additional weights added with the greatest of facility. A pro at a golf course or a dealer in golf supplies is thus enabled to carry only a fraction of the number of ordinary wooden golf clubs he must stock and will be able at all times to accommodate his customers. The user is also enabled to easily vary the weight of his club and is thus saved the unnecessary expense, of purchasing a heavier or lighter set of wooden clubs when he finds them to be more effective.

The foregoing improvements will not detract from the appearance of the golf club and will make for considerable economy in production over the prevailing method of weighting golf clubs.

Applicant is aware that patents have been granted on removable weights for golf clubs but so far as he has been able to ascertain the constructions have been cumbersome, complicated and expensive. He believes that his construction of a wooden golf club having a simple removable sole-plate carrying a stud to which the changeable weights are secured on its upper side andrunners formed on its lower side has many advantages over what is 'knownin the prior art.

Changes may be made in form and details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A golf club head of the wooden type having a metal sole-plate with a plurality of runners thereon, the height of the runners tapering from substantially zero at the striking face of the golf club to a high point at the rear portion of said golf club head and the central runner being higher than the adjacent runners.

2. A golf club head of the wooden type having a metal sole-plate with a plurality of runners thereon, the runners tapering from substantially zero at the striking face of said golf club head to a high point at the rear portion of said golf club head.

3. A golf club head of the wooden type having a metal sole plate with a central runner and lateral runners thereon, the height of the runners tapering from approximately zero at the striking face of the golf club head to a high point at the rear portion of said golf club head, a stud carried on the upper surface of said sole-plate in the region of said central runner, and a plurality of removable weights carried by said stud and engaging an aperture in the wooden body portion, said stud being inaccessible from the bottom of said sole-plate.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ARTHUR J. STUMPF. 

